CONTRACT LAW
CONSIDERATION, PROMISSORY ESTOPPEL AND ECONOMIC DURESS NEW CONT RACT OR VARIATION
Is there a new contract being formed or is there an issue with a variation of an existing contract?
STEP 1:
Briefly establish the following to show that, but for any issue with consideration, there is a contract. Remember that a variation contract is itself a new contract and so any variation must also meet all of the usual requirements of a contract. 1) Agreement: Have both parties agreed to the same offer? Identify the offer and acceptance. 2) Intention to Create Legal Relations (“ICLR”): Did the parties intend that the contract would be legally binding? The burden of proving that there was no intention to create legal relations falls on the person asserting that position (Volumatic Ltd v Ideas for Life Ltd). Performance of the contract is persuasive evidence of intention to create legal relations (Anchor 2010 v Midas Construction). 3) Consideration (see below)
DEFINE CONSIDERATI ON
STEP 2:
Define consideration. State what the consideration in the scenario is.
Definition of consideration:
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An act or forbearance of one party, or the promise thereof, is the price for which the promise of the other is bought (Dunlop v Selfridge).
Both the promisor and promisee must provide consideration.
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Have both parties provided consideration? State what the potential consideration is. State whether there is any issue with consideration.
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If there is a variation, has each side given consideration for the variation? What is it?
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In respect of each example of consideration, establish who the promisor is, and who the promisee is. (Remember that the promisee receives the variation promise. The promisor makes that promise. Be clear about these terms.) For example: “C wants to claim the £x bonus promised to him by D, but the issue is whether C provided consideration for this variation.” (Blue v Ashley).
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